Overview

Picking items to fulfil orders is one of the most important processes in a warehouse. The picking process in PVX has been designed to prioritise getting order items to despatch quickly and accurately whilst maintaining accurate inventory records. This is achieved by following these basic principles:

Picking methods make maximum use of the space on the picking trolley to reduce the number of trips around the warehouse that are needed.
Most methods avoid dictating where to place picked items on trolleys so operators can make maximum use of the available space, allowing them to pick more quickly and make fewer errors.
Pickers using PVX can just pick; they are not distracted by additional tasks.
Every item picked is scanned in and out of each location to track inventory accurately.

General guidance on picking in PVX

Picking is performed using the PVX mobile app; this video gives an overview of how this is done (more details are given below).

https://youtu.be/JtdDcTPp_qY?si=5EDjN5P57i8TXW7g

There are a number of possible picking methods, but they all follow the same general workflow:

You can view the different pick methods available on your PVX account by tapping and then selecting Pick from the actions menu:

Selecting one of these options will display the list of current picking actions of that type waiting to be completed. It also shows you which ones are already locked (due to being performed by another operator). Tap the action you've been tasked with and then a list of the locations you need to visit will be displayed, together with the items to be picked at each location:

Physically travel to the first location and tap the list entry on the screen. The pick details screen is now displayed, which directs you to scan or enter the location(s) you are picking from and to (where applicable), the item and the quantity. Use your barcode scanning equipment to complete the scans required; these will depend on the pick method you are using and how it has been configured in your PVX account.

If you have set the Switch Focus setting in the mobile app then you won't have to touch the screen to move between each step of the process; the app will jump to the next step when a scan is completed. You can also scan items repeatedly rather than enter the quantities manually (more efficient for small quantities).

If you swipe your screen to the right, you can see details of the item you are picking which may be helpful if you are having trouble locating it. Swipe to the left to return to the pick screen. (This screen may not be visible on all accounts.)

Once you've completed or entered all the required information, the green PICK button will become active, indicating that you can now pick the items and move to the next item or location. If you tap the Auto Pick option so that it changes from OFF to ON, this step will occur automatically, again saving you time touching the screen on your mobile device.

In general, the different picking methods are very similar to perform and easy to familiarise yourself with quickly, so switching between them shouldn't be a problem. You can also customise the workflow for each method by changing the order of the scanning operations in the app, so for example you can scan the item before you scan the 'From Location'.

Picking method summary

The table below describes the pick method options available within PVX (methods marked with an asterisk are chargeable features). You can find more information on them in the article on configuring picking processes.

Method	When to use	Number of orders	Items per order	Order consolidation
1 person picks 1 order	For large or valuable orders (e.g., wholesale orders or warehouse transfers) and to clear up exceptions following failed pick actions.	1	Multiple (large)	Not applicable
Single-item batch pick	For single-item orders - the system will smartly group orders into batches which are located adjacently on the pick sequence for a fast and efficient pick.	Multiple	1	Not applicable
Multi-item batch pick (items)	To efficiently pick many orders that contain variable numbers of similar-sized items. Pick is batched by number of items that trolley can accommodate.	Multiple	Multiple	At despatch
Multi-item batch pick (orders)	An alternative way of batching, by number of orders. Less common but can be useful for some wholesale use cases when you want to group all the orders from a single customer	Multiple	Multiple	At despatch
Pick and sort to trolley*	When you want to deliver consolidated orders to despatch ready for packing, and picking efficiency is less critical (method is slower than batch picking).	Multiple	Multiple	During pick
Pick by zone*	For even faster picking where pickers only pick from designated zones in warehouse, minimising travel time.	1 / Multiple	Single / Multiple	None

The recommended ways to perform these methods are described in more detail below; these are important to understand if you want to maximise your picking efficiency.

Picking method details

1 person picks 1 order

Each picker moves around the warehouse with a trolley, picking the items for a single sales order before returning those items to be packed and despatched.
This is the traditional way of picking sales orders, but it is also often the least efficient, especially in e-commerce businesses where the orders are often very small. However, if your warehouse handles large complex orders, this method might be useful to ensure that orders don't get mixed up or picked incorrectly.

Single-item batch pick

A very useful method for handling large numbers of sales orders which each contain a single item.
You can use any picking trolley - it does not need to have multiple slots or boxes. A large wheeled bin can even be used.
Follow the route through the warehouse that PVX plans out based on the locations of the items needed. You will not normally need to visit all areas of the warehouse; with large volumes in an action PVX arranges each batch to only cover a limited set of locations to reduce picking times.
Scan the items requested at each location, and then place them on the trolley.
It doesn't matter where you put them on the trolley. When you return the trolley to despatch, each item is scanned to identify the sales order, so it doesn't matter where they are.
Make sure you use all the available space on the trolley and don't use a second trolley unless you really need to, as this takes more time.

Multi-item batch pick

A method for picking many sales orders at once, each of which contains multiple items.
The pick can be set up based on the number of items or, less commonly, the number of orders. Using 'items' gives flexibility in maximising the use of the available space on the trolley. This is only important when the action is being created; it doesn't affect how you pick the items.
You need a picking trolley with multiple slots or boxes, each with its own location barcode.
Follow the route through the warehouse that PVX plans out based on the locations of the items needed.
Scan each item requested at each location, and then scan the slot or box on the trolley where you place the item.
You can choose where you want to put the items on your trolley. You don't know which items are for which order so you can't collate the orders at this stage; that will be done during despatch. Just arrange items on the trolley to use all the available space. But remember three things:
- Always scan the location where you put each item.
- Don't move any items to another location later in the pick.
- Try not to put items that look similar in the same location (this makes it harder to find a particular item when despatching).
During despatch the packer can scan any item and will then be directed where on the trolley to find the other items to complete that order.

Pick and sort to trolley

Paid Feature: This pick method is a chargeable feature. You need to raise a ticket with the PVX helpdesk to have this option enabled on your account.

This method is designed for where you want to deliver complete orders to pack benches and reduce any sorting time at that stage. As you pick the items, you place them with the other items in that order on your trolley, so that they do not need to be sorted during despatch. This can be useful with orders for multiple items that are quite small and look very similar, which can make the job of sorting them in despatch very slow
You need a picking trolley with multiple slots or boxes, each with its own location barcode.
Follow the route through the warehouse that PVX plans out based on the locations of the items needed.
Scan each item requested at each location. If the item is the first to be picked for a specific order, you can choose where you want to put it on your trolley - just remember to scan the location.
When you scan other items in that order, PVX will tell you where to put them (in the same location as the first item).

See this pick method in action:

Pick by zone

Paid Feature: This pick method is a chargeable feature. You need to raise a ticket with the PVX helpdesk to have this option enabled on your account.

Pick by zone is an advanced picking method that further reduces the time required for each picking action by having each operator only picking from a designated area (zone) of the warehouse. It requires detailed setting up to work correctly. Refer to this article for further information on this method.

Exceptions in picking: Skip

The Skip option is available in the PVX mobile app when picking. It allows you to skip the picking of an item from a location; this might be necessary if an item is not found in its expected location, or if the location itself is inaccessible for some reason. PVX will direct you to another location where the item may be found (if one exists), or you can choose to miss out the item completely and continue picking the rest of the items in the picking action.

When picking, if an item cannot be picked, tap SKIP in the mobile app.
Select a reason why the item cannot be picked. Skip reasons are set up in the web app.
When the app asks if you want to choose an alternative location, you can tap YES and then pick the item from another location indicated by the app. Otherwise, tap NO and omit the item from the picking action (this will need to be handled later in despatch). If an alternative location cannot be found, PVX will inform you that the item must be skipped.

Note: Any change in the items picked during an action creates a failed action in the system and blacklists the location until the inventory discrepancy is corrected, preventing other actions from being created which pick items from the same location. You should therefore make sure that someone handles the failed action as soon as possible. To maintain efficient picking, this should normally be someone from a separate stock control team rather than the picker themselves.

Problems with scanning during picking

If you find that items are difficult to scan when picking, perhaps due to a damaged label then you can enter the barcode into the mobile app manually; however, this is time-consuming. In the PVX web app, you can tap the magnifying glass icon and the item being picked will be displayed. This allows you to simply tap the item and continue with the pick.